Floor mat



June 18, 1935.

E. C. MATTESON FLOOR MAT 2 Sheets-Sheet l JHHWUH ai '42: 'L

E y- B 4- (g WW d m June 18, 1935. E c QN 2,005,659

FLOOR MAT Filed July 26, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WWW Patented June 18, 1935 PATENT oF' IcEf noon MAT Edward G. Matteson, Miami, Fla... assignor of one-fourth to Wm. F. A. Buehner and onefourth to A. M. Wcere, bath of Miami, Fla.

' Application July 26, 193.2, Serial No. 624,858

6 Claims. (01. 40 140) My invention 'relatesto improvements in floor mats, and particularly to mats of this character made of rubber or other suitable. material or com position, such as are used upon a floor, in front of adoor, upon a running board of an autombile, in elevatorsyand in other places where a floor mat is desired.

'A primary object is to provide'a' mat having embodied therewith interchangeable letters, names, numbers, figures, or other indicia, or any other inscriptive matter'as may be desired, without changing the body. of the mat or subjecting the same to complicated assembly operations.

- Another object is to provide a mat of this character upon which any desired initial letters, numbers, figures, or other characters or indicia may be applied, removed, and interchanged, without the necessity of producing or using a new .matbody for'each particular combination or assembly. I I

Still another object is to so construct the device that a mat body is provided with openings, such as square, circular, or any other desired shape, to receive a block or blocks, which carry initial letters, numbers or figures-special designs, special inscriptions, or in fact any material, characters or indicia that it may be desired to display upon the floor mat.

Still another object is to provide amat structure of a standard design, or of any desired design and size, that will have standardized openings provided therein to receive standardized mat having any desired combination, 'with'the blocks interchangeable to change the combination, or any individual character, if and when desired.

With the above and other objects in view, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, my 50 invention includes certain basic features of construction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter set forth in connection with the drawings.

In the drawings: 55 Figure 1 is a view in top plan of a mat constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view substantially on line 2-2.

Fig. 3 is a view in top plan of one of the interchangeable blocks.

a Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through the body of the mat to better show the manner of assembling the parts.

5 is a top plan View showing a modified form and design of mat. 1

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View illustrating a modified construction.

Fig.1? is a view intop' plan of block illustrated inFig.6. v

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view in top plan illustrating another form.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View through the structure illustrated in Fig. 8 to better show the mounting of the block.

Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the block.

As the parts are shown in Figs. land 2, the mat is of the type ordinarily used upon automobile running boards, and in other like connections, and the body i, which is of rubber or any other suitable material or composition, has a frame 2 mounted around its edge and provided with a flange s outstanding to serve as a scuff plate. While a metal frame is here illustrated,

this is only intended to show one adaptation of the invention, and the mat can be made of any desired shape, form, outline, and design, to'suit the particular requirements and use to which the floor mat is to be put. a

The body portion 5, as shown in Fig. 2, is preferably rather thin at its marginal edge 4, and is thickened in its middle portion, as at 5 to give greater substance to the body. In this thickened portion 5a plurality of openings 6 are formed in or through the material of the body, and flangesare provided around the openings 6 at the-top thereof adjacent the wear surface of the body. These openings can be of any desired size and rape in eutline; and, a single opening or any desired number of openings can be provided. While the illustration of Fig. 2 shows. the body portion as being thickened graduallyfrom the marginal edge'toward the portion having theopenings 6 therethrough, the marginal portions might be made to be of substantially uniform thickness and the increased thickness can be provided only around those portionsjthrough or in which the openings are to'be provided.

In the present instance I have shown the openings as substantially square in plan, and the blocks 8 will be of corresponding shape and size. These blocks 3 are, in the main, of a thickness to fit within the openings 6 with their upper marginal edges against the rim flanges l and the body portions then just filling out the remaining portions of the openings so that the lower side of each block is in substantially the same plane as the under side of the body portion l.

are fitted within the openings 6 they will hold by friction thereinj however,- under some circumstances and conditions it may be desirable to provideadditional securance for the blocks, and with this in mind a bead or rib II can be provided'entirely around the marginalface of the block, or upon a portion thereof, to be received andheld in a correspondingly shaped groove I2,

formed in the wall of the opening 6.

While the number, letter, figure, name, emblem, or other inscriptive matter or indicia can be shown upon the upper face l3 of the block 8 in any desired manner, in the present'instance I have shown a letter B, indicated at M as bossed up or raised from the surface [3 a distance corresponding. substantially to the thickness of the die flange 1, and in this way the letter is elevated and is disposed tobesubstantially a part of and in the sameplane with the tread'surface of the body of the mat.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a different shape and form of mat in which a greater number of openings 6 are provided so that a proper name, as Smith, or any other name, or word, or combination of figures, or other matter, requiring the use of several characters, can be assembled to be shown on the face of the fioor mat.

Referring'to Figs. 6 and 7, the body l5 of the mathas the wall i6 of the opening I! therein formed on a greater angle, and the rib and groove are not employed. Such a construction willbe particularly advantageous Where the blocks are desired to 'be readily removable for frequent interohanging, as the frictional wedging will not be [quite so secure and the blocks can be fitted into and-removed from the openings with greater famatter or indicia, and have constructed thebody of the mat for insertion of such blocks into or upon the mat body in seats or'openings provided thereon or therein, which seats or openings will holdthe'blocks in interchangeable, removable or replaceable fittings to thus be presented to show 'the character or other matter, and 'to present the appearance of being substantially a unitary part of the body;of the mat.

While I have herein shownand described only certain possible uses it will be appreciated that many changes and variations oan be' made in the form; construction, shape, design, assembly,

'and use of the floor mat, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

,Iclaim: H r V 1. A floor mat comprising, a'body portion having openings therethrough, and blocks fitted interchangeably in the openings to have a portion exposed as a part of the surface of the body portion, said mat being made of resilient material and said blocks and the body portion within said openings having interfitting rib and groove formations to hold the blocks against casual displacement in either direction.

2. A floor mat of resilient material comprising, a body portion having an opening therethrough, and a block having an indicia on one face thereof fitted through and to fill saidopening and providedwith interlocking rib and groove portions frictionally held in place with the body portion to present the indicia to be visible within the field of the tread surface of said body pore tion and to hold the block against casual dis placement in either direction. r i 3. A floor mat comprising, abodyof resilient material thickenedin part and having an opena ing through the thickened part, and a block fitted removably through the opening and provided.

with interlocking rib and groove portions'whe'reby the block'is held against casual displacement in either direction with one face exposed in the field or the tread surface of said body portion.

'4. A' fioormat comprising, abody portionof resilient 'material "having an opening there-v through with the wall of the opening grooved peripherally, and a block'of resilientmaterial fittedre'movably-through and' to fill in and close said-opening and provided with a peripheral rib to fit within'the groove of the body portion and hold said block against casual displacement in either direction from the opening.

- 5. A fioor mat comprising, a fiat body portion of resilient material having an opening therethrough with arim. fiange around the opening at the tread face of the body portion, and a j block of resilient material fitted through'and within the opening to substantially fill the lower. portion of said opening and contact with said flange, said block being provided with a raised portion in the middle part thereof of substantially the thickness of said flange to thuslie in the plane of the tread face of, the body portion, and said body portion and 'block'having' interfitting rib and groove formations engaging to'hold the block against casual displacement from' the opening. 1 6. A fioor mat comprising, a body portion having an opening'therethrough with the wall of the opening groovedperipherally in its middle portion, and ablock fitted removably through-and to fill and close said opening" and provided with a peripheral rib around its middle portion to fit within the groove of the body portion and. hold said block'against casual displacement :in'any direction'from the opening, one of saidmernbers 'being sufiiciently yieldable to insure a close fit of the rib within the groove and to yet allow compression for ready manual placement and V removal. I r

' EDWARD C. MA'I'IESON. 

